Rentokil, a United Kingdom-based pest control company, moved to dismiss a proposed class action suit alleging it charged tobacco users more for health benefits than non-tobacco users without providing a reasonable way to avoid the surcharges. In support of its motion to dismiss, Rentokil claimed that the named plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the suit because they were ineligible for an exemption from the Read More

Bed Bath & Beyond’s 401(k) committee has obtained preliminary court approval of its $1.95 million settlement of a class action lawsuit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The plan participants had accused the company of mismanaging its retirement plan, in which 2,100 employees had invested before it terminated the plan and declared bankruptcy. The parties reached a proposed settlement in Read More

A California federal district court judge has denied Monster Beverage Corp.’s motion to dismiss a proposed class action in which Monster employees claim that their employer violated its fiduciary duties in failing to properly monitor Transamerica Retirement Solutions, the third-party administrator of its employee 401(k) plan. Transamerica reportedly charged unreasonable recordkeeping fees, which are based on a fixed Read More

Former employee Brian Byrne has filed a class action lawsuit against retirement services provider Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA) and its fiduciaries. The suit alleges that TIAA breached its fiduciary duties and engaged in prohibited transactions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by charging higher fees to plan participants for the same investments than to other investors. Read More

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has rescinded the guidance issued in May 2021 concerning the interpretation and enforcement of Affordable Care Act (ACA) Section 1557. The recission is effective immediately to reduce regulatory burden.  In its 2021 Guidance, HHS announced that it would construe Section 1557’s prohibition on discrimination “on the basis of sex” to include sexual orientation Read More

The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury recently issued a statement on enforcement of the final rule concerning the requirements of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). Due to litigation concerning the MHPAEA, the federal agencies have announced that they are reconsidering the regulations and may rescind or modify them through future rulemaking. The agencies have Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has revived an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) lawsuit filed by a yacht company against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) over excessive healthcare fees. The appellate court held that the lower federal district court erred in dismissing the suit, alleging that BCBSM had violated its fiduciary duties by charging excessive fees and engaging in Read More

Cigna employees have filed a lawsuit against the company for allegedly violating its fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The claims stem from Cigna allegedly using forfeited funds from the company’s 401(k) plan to reduce its contributions to the plan rather than to reduce or eliminate participant administrative costs. The case is Reven et al. v. The Cigna Group 401(k) Plan Read More

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced a $600,000 settlement with an entity covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) following a phishing attack. The settlement involves PIH Health, Inc., a California-based health network.  The HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) began investigating the incident after receiving a report in January 2020 that a Read More

Retirement plan trading activity was high in the first quarter of 2025 —even before Trump announced his new tariff policy—and has fluctuated significantly on a day-to-day basis since. As a result, March 2025 was the most active month for retirement plan trading since 2020. However, the S&P 500 Index recently lost $2.4 trillion in one day. Not surprisingly, Americans are panicking as they see their retirement Read More